Aberdeen Group Announces Prestigious Award Nominations for Industry Excellence in Retail Management

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - May 4, 2010) -  Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the nominations for their industry achievement awards for excellence in Retail Management. Award winners will be chosen from six industry categories and awarded onsite at the Aberdeen Retail Summit, June 17-18, 2010, Westin Hotel at Times Square in New York City.

Award nominees were chosen based on proprietary Aberdeen research conducted over the past several months covering retail process excellence; executive stewardship; business evolution; innovation in technology; and performance excellence. The prestigious nominees by category are:

1. In-Store Customer Experience - Nominees: Apple Stores; Stop & Shop; Staples; and Nordstrom.

2. Cross-Channel & Retail Integration - Nominees: 1800 Flowers; Best Buy; New York & Company; Nike Retail; and Staples.

3. Inventory and Retail Supply Chain - Nominees: Family Dollar; Giant Eagle; Lowe's; and Macy's.

4. Overall Operational Excellence - Nominees: Aeropostale; Apple Stores; CVS; Walgreens; and Wal-Mart.

5. Emerging Business Process/Technology - Nominees: 1800 Flowers; New York & Company; Pizza Hut; Sheetz Convenience Stores; and Wet Seal.

6. Retail Sustainability & Green Initiatives - Nominees: Best Buy; Carrefour; JC Penney; and Marks & Spencer.

Featuring Aberdeen's Sahir Anand, Retail Practice Research Director, and its retail research analyst team, the Summit will address the pain points of executives at a time when new thinking is required to understand what customers' are desiring in products and services sold across retail sub-segments.

Confirmed Summit speakers include Vice Presidents and C-level executives from the Association of Retail Technology Standards; Autozone; Best Buy; Bob's Stores; Crocs; Family Dollar ; Hastens; Kenneth Cole; Motorcycle Superstore; New York & Company; Santa Clara University; Save Mart Supermarkets; Swarovski; Vitamin Shoppe; Walgreens; and Wet Seal.

Summit Sponsors and Partners include CrossView; Epicor; 4R Systems; Retaligent; 1010data; Direct Source; KeyNote; Microsoft; Sterling Commerce; Verizon Business; Apparel Magazine; Retail Speak; Integrated Solutions for Retailers; and RetailWire.

Complimentary VIP passes available for qualified Retail executives. To apply for a pass, please visit: http://summits.aberdeen.com/index.php/Retail-Summit/2010-retail-summit-overview.html

For summit sponsorship opportunities, visit http://summits.aberdeen.com/index.php/Retail-Summit/2010-retail-summit-sponsors.html

Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Retail Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

(C) 2010 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com